Attorney fights for trio in Franklin case

Friday

Oct 26, 2007 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - A Stockton attorney representing three Franklin High School football players on Thursday officially joined in the legal battle to overturn sanctions banning the trio from the team because they were recruited from American Samoa.

Scott Smith

STOCKTON - A Stockton attorney representing three Franklin High School football players on Thursday officially joined in the legal battle to overturn sanctions banning the trio from the team because they were recruited from American Samoa.

After a brief hearing held behind closed doors, San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge K. Peter Saiers allowed Stockton attorney Michael Babitzke to join efforts already under way by the Franklin legal team to put the players on the field.

The Stockton Unified School District is represented in the football recruiting case by the Emeryville law firm of Ruiz & Sperrow.

Babitzke, who called the move "technical housekeeping," represents Franklin students Vincent Maene, Bruce Seumanutafa and Storm MacOmber. This way, somebody is "directly representing the three minor children," Babitzke said outside of the courtroom.

The three were banned from playing under a ruling last week by Pete Saco, commissioner of the California Interscholastic Federation's Sac-Joaquin Section.

Saco found that Franklin recruited a total of 10 players from American Samoa since 2005 in violation of CIF bylaws. As punishment, Saco banned the three players from the team and barred Franklin from playoffs for five years. Franklin also forfeited its record from 2005 to present.

Babitzke had been representing Gwendolyn Seumaala, the wife of a volunteer with the Franklin High School football team, in her bid to gain legal guardianship of the three 17-year-old boys, which would give them residency within Franklin's boundaries.

With Saiers' approval, Babitzke now can directly represent the trio in the attempt to win an injunction toward lifting Saco's ban. The case returns to court Wednesday, when Superior Court Judge Lesley Holland is expected to decide if he will block Saco's punishment.

Since the sanctions were imposed, the three players were sidelined in a 35-28 loss last Friday to Cesar Chavez High School. It remains unclear if they will take the field in tonight's game against Tracy High School.

Franklin coach Tom Verner, who attended Thursday's hearing, declined to comment outside the courtroom on whether the three would play, citing strict orders from attorneys representing the Stockton Unified School District.